Conventional systems for information retrieval, including systems for querying hypertext-networked databases, typically require users to provide precise search terms and may require users to express search terms using Boolean logic. Other systems for information retrieval, such as those for querying relational databases, may require users to express queries using database programming languages. Many users would prefer to use natural language phrases to express their queries and providing queries using these precise formats is not intuitive for many users.
Additionally, systems for information retrieval are typically limited to the retrieval of previously stored information, especially in conventional systems for querying networked resources, such as network search engines. Such systems do not typically provide the functionality required to allow a user to modify previously stored information or to add information to stored data. For example, many systems provide users with functionality for searching within a document or amongst many, networked document. However, if a user viewing the search results wished to add information to the collection of documents searched, access to a different system would be required. Similarly, a user interacting with a system for information retrieval typically does not have access to functionality for modifying the information retrieval system. For example, the user may wish to modify a display of search results or to modify a particular search result but typically does not have access to functionality for doing so.